So keen were they to bury Ed Miliband last night the Tory press office team sent out a series of desperate tweets culminating in a straightforward porkie, saying Guardian columnist Jackie Ashley thought Miliband’s speech was “a flop”.

“… this was a speech that Blair could never have made: short on jokes (though there were couple of good ones at the beginning) and long on radicalism.

“The scale of Miliband’s vision was awesome, taking on vested interests from right and left, while trashing some of Labour’s record and praising some of the Tories’ achievements. From welfare scroungers to top executives, Miliband has ideas to change things…”

On what planet does that translate to “the speech was a flop”?

It seems the Tory press boys failed to heed their master’s warning of the perils of over-tweeting; as Mr Cameron said:

“The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat.”

Like this article? Sign up to Left Foot Forward's weekday email for the latest progressive news and comment - and support campaigning journalism by making a donation today.